[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody. what do you say? it is april 16 on a tuesday this is the "full court press" coming to you live on current tv across this great land of ours this tuesday morning. bringing you the news of the day as we always do and giving you a chance to comment at 1-866-55-press. that is our toll free number. 1-866-55-press.

you're going to want to weigh in on the issues of the day today for sure. you can also join us on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com. an entire nation in shock today as a terrorist attack in boston turns to celebration at the end of the boston marathon into bloody mayhem. three people killed. we know so far over 100 injured including many who lost their legs, loss of limbs. still no word on who is responsible for the bombings, whether it's terrorists foreign or domestic. but clearly it is an act of terrorism and those who -- by those who hate us and what we stand for. the fbi is on the case. president obama saying yesterday that we will track down whoever was responsible and make sure that they feel the full weight of justice. we'll bring you updates on boston throughout the morning

at the same time updates on what's happening here in our nation's capital where comprehensive immigration reform is unveiled today and senators in the senate still scrambling for votes on gun safety. all of that and more on current tv. support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for

real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hard to believe but another act of terror on american soil. yes, good morning everybody. april 16, tuesday. the day after patriots' day. turns into bloody mayhem in boston at the end of the boston marathon.

we'll be talking about that and covering that from every angle with you this morning. good to see you. thank you for joining us here on the "full court press" where we always bring you the news of the day. good or bad. and talk about it for the next three hours here on your local progressive talk radio station. on current tv and on sirius x.m. this hour only. good to have you with us today and a lot that you're going to want to talk about and as americans pull together and figure out what the hell happened and where do we go from here. we're coming to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill. the most important thing is we'll not only tell you what's going on, bring you some of the people who were involved yesterday in boston and are on the case but give you a chance to comment, talk about it at 1-866-55-press. on twitter at bpshow. and on facebook at

facebook.com/billpressshow. join the conversation, time when we all need to talk these things out. does us a lot of good to do so. have the entire team here for you this morning. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey. >> bill, good morning. >> bill: alichia cruz is here on the phones and cyprian bowlding as always on the video cam, keeping us look good on current tv. i was at the white house yesterday for the briefing. everything normal, right. >> yeah. >> bill: i left, normal day in front of the white house. big crowds in front taking pictures as always through the white house fence. said hello to a couple of secret service people there. it just so happened, i hopped on metro and went up to union station. met a friend of mine at the capitol, had a quick lunch who had just, yesterday morning flown back from boston. he was up in boston with his

brother who was there for the boston marathon. >> oh, wow. >> bill: they were doing some warm-up runs and with his brother and everything. he left his brother. he hopped on a plane to washington. his brother ran the marathon. we were talking about the marathon. his brother had already finished, what time he had run in. pretty good time. and walked home from the capitol. got home. walked in and carol said did you see this? she had the television on and it was the explosion at the end of the boston marathon. so uncanny to me because i had been talking all about the boston marathon. i was so worried about his brother. i called him right away. his brother like i say had already finished. the shocking news, the more we saw, the worse -- worse it got. in terms of the news. of the fatality fatalities and the horrible injuries.

>> it is amazing that it happened in a place like this because it is so well watched. and there are cameras everywhere and that's the sort of -- sort of the scariest part of this is if you've ever done any of these types of events or races as you come down the finish line, chute, as they call it, both sides of where you're running is jammed with people. family members and spectators and it is a lot of people. >> bill: i've seen it here for the marathon. i've been in the crowds and no, it is great. people are applauding and coming through and there is an intensity there and there is a great spirit, you know of celebration. >> yeah. >> bill: the runners who finally get to the end of the line and the people who see them coming through and all kinds of people around. but that's the kind of place that the terrorists prey on. the least -- like the markets in -- i hate to say this but

this hit us. this happens every day in baghdad, right? this happens every day in villages in afghanistan and also in pakistan. and they go to -- like to the markets, to the schools, to the hospitals, to police stations, the least likely places you would think. this is their m.o. >> it has been confirmed there was an 8-year-old boy who was killed in the blast. the thing that really just was a knife to me is that the boy showed up because his dad was running and wanted to be there when his dad finished. that's the type of crowd that's there. family members. >> bill: we've got -- nephew of mine and his wife and two little boys living in boston. this was -- they have a late spring break. this is their spring break. she had planned to take them down to the marathon. in boston, this is it.

>> this is a huge day. patriots' day. it is a huge day in boston. >> bill: she decided not to for whatever reason. all kinds of stories like that. we'll be covering -- by the way you know, we have the same decision -- we have to make the same decision a lot of other people make like conan o'brien last night, what do you do when something like this happens? well, you know, it is a cliche but it's true. the show has to go on as conan o'brien said. >> it is our job to do a show and we're going to try to entertain you the very best we can where i given our track record, gives you people a 20% chance of having a good show tonight. [ cheering ] >> bill: conan o'brien who is from boston. we'll try to inform you not so much to entertain you with the help of chris van hollen, igor volsky from think progress is with us every tuesday morning. we'll talk to several voices from boston to tell us what's going on up there.

and get to all of that and your calls but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> i do have some other headlines making news. the pulitzer prizes for journal prism announced today. "the denver post" winning for its coverage -- >> bill: i forgot to mention that. i did get that call yesterday. you can congratulate me now. >> that was sort of the awkward thing in all of this, the winners were announced right around the time that this happened. >> bill: oh, really? >> you were getting a mix of push e-mails and push things from different organizations. we won a pulitzer. around the same time this happened. >> depper have post won for its coverage of the aurora movie shooting. "new york times" won for reporting on an avalanche and business practices for apple and walmart. associated press winning for photo coverage of the war in syria. also "the washington post" wall street journal winning for commentaries and the minneapolis

"star tribune" winning for editorial cartoons. >> bill: little bit for everybody. >> abc wants to talk to the masters golf champion, adam scott, about appearing as the next bachelor on its prime time hit reality series. bachelor producer robert mills tweeting yesterday he wants to meet with the 32-year-old champion about making him the star of a show that has a guy go through 25 women to find through love. >> bill: talk to tiger. >> last thing this guy needs. he's one of the best looking guys in the world. he's now the masters champion. >> and in sports two young college basketball players announced plans to leave school and enter the nba draft. noel, freshman for the kentucky wildcats is ready to take the big step in declaring himself for the draft as did georgetown hoya sophomore porter jr.

noel could be the number one overall pick and porter could be number four. >> bill: all right. there you go. dan, thank you. yes, indeed. patriots' day, as we said yesterday, the iconic boston marathon. beautiful day in boston and across the nation. real celebration and 10 minutes to 3:00 yesterday afternoon turned into a bloody nightmare as terrorists exploded two bombs right at the end of the -- right at the finish line of the boston marathon. two bombs that had been hidden in trash cans were detonated with cell phones, bombs with shrapnel, exploded into the crowd. first one then 15 or 20 seconds later, another one a block or so away. killing three people and injuring over 100 people including many who lost their limbs, lost their legs. there were a lot of injuries to lower parts of the body. we still don't know who is

responsible. we know it was an act of terrorism. we don't know whether it was domestic or foreign. nobody has stepped forward. there are no clues. there's no systems in custody. there's no suspects in custody. the fbi is on the case with local police. this is what it sounded like right there at the finish line. [ explosion ] [ screaming ] >> bill: of course, there was a lot of confusion because people didn't know -- they thought it might be a firecracker or a celebration or just like a utility explosion that happened to happen there. when the second one went off everybody put them together. and realized what had gone on. the president yesterday evening coming out in the briefing room to -- with a -- showing the

determination, i think all americans felt that we don't know yet who it was but we're gonna find out. >> obama: make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this and we will find out who did this. we'll find out why they did this. >> bill: and we, the president saying that once we do find out we will make sure that they get what they deserve. >> obama: any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice. >> bill: it was the commissioner, they call him in boston commissioner ed davis who pointed out that, you know, they had made all kinds of preparations as they will for an event like this with that huge criewnd everything. and all of the participants. 23,000 people, i believe i read who ran in the marathon. and knowing the crowds that would come. but that they had -- they would take the normal precautions for an event like that with extra

security but they had no idea -- there were no threats ahead of time. no intelligence that this event might be targeted. >> obama: we certainly increase posture around a big event like this. all of those things happened in preparation for this event but there was no specific intelligence that anything was going to happen. >> bill: what can we draw from this? i would love to get your thoughts on it. 1-866-55-press. it certainly is a reminder that, you know, we are not safe, not even here in our own soil, in our own homeland. particularly post-september 11th, it is a reminder there are people both here in this country and around the world who don't like us, don't like what we stand for don't like who we are. we'll take advantage of every opportunity to do harm to us. it also -- i think we saw again yesterday, the real heroism on the part of so many people.

and the only silver lining to this event it seems to me was that there were so many of the runners had already finished, right? maybe 2/3 of the runners, i heard, had already finished the race. number one. number two that because of the nature of the event, there were so many ems people and so many cops right there at the finish line who could -- who were able to rush in right away. people who were there to give -- like massages or deal with cramps or deal with people who were just dehydrated, at the end of the marathon. instead, who turned into putting tourniquets on people and trying to save their lives and doing a little triage as to who needed the emergency care and everything. but they were there on the spot. they rushed right in. >> there is always -- having done a couple of endurance events like this. there is always -- there is usually some military there. and there's always a lot of medical personnel. >> bill: national guard

people. >> it is an event where, as soon as it happened, it was amazing to see the flood of people race toward the explosion. knew exactly what they were doing. >> bill: they were tearing the barrier down and getting people out of there and getting people out in the street. and you know, i think another thing we learned and the president touched on this yesterday, that an event like this certainly does pull us all together. and unite us in -- i think what's not -- it is an emotion that is okay at this time which is we're going to get even. we're going to get these bastards. we all share that. not as democrats or republicans but as americans. here's what the president talked about after he had called leaders of congress of both parties. >> obama: i've updated leaders of congress and both parties and we reaffirmed on days like this, there are no republicans or

democrats, we are americans united in concern for our fellow citizens. >> bill: i also think we know from now on for what we're going against, an increase in security. it happened already in washington and new york and boston of course. it will not be business as usual today or for a few days and few weeks and maybe few months to come. 1-866-55-press. what can we learn from this? what can we do? your thoughts at 1-866-55-press. this tuesday morning on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >>current will let me say anything. can become major victories. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. when i was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 25 minutes after the hour. talking about the horror yesterday at the finish line of the boston marathon. terrorist attack, fbi on the case. by the way this speculation about who's responsible i thought it was irresponsible on the part of peter king, who is head of the house homeland security committee who right away wants to stir up the al-qaeda theory. here he is. >> it could end up being someone else but right now it has all of the indicators in every aspect of being an al-qaeda-affiliated attack. >> bill: what's that based on? based on nothing. you know what it is based on? peter king having to get on television. i just think it is time to calm down a little bit. looks it could be but remember oklahoma city was a domestic affect terrorism.

the atlanta olympic bombing centennial park was a domestic act of terrorism. this could easily have been one of those. we don't know. is the answer right now. front page of "the washington post," i don't know whether you can see this. but look again at the heavy presence of police officers right there on the scene as this one marathon runner falls to the ground. he was totally uninjured. on the phones, don is calling from nashua, new hampshire. hey, don, good morning. >> caller: good morning, bill. i said it is a sad day in boston history. >> bill: absolutely. in american history. >> are you close by, don? were you close by? >> caller: yes, i was. i was coming out of the red sox game. we were right down in kenmore square getting on to get over to the finish line.

normally we head out the back way and head down boylston but we wanted to watch the runners coming through. we got to the point where it was just so congested there that me and my buddy were like going our own separate ways so i was like i'm going home. this is way too much. i never normally go through kenmore. he wanted to see the runners. i usually go the back way around to get to the finish line quicker but i'm just grateful, you know, we didn't make it over there because we would have been over there in time for that. if we went the normal way that i go. >> bill: you would have been right in the middle of it. don, i appreciate the call. and i'm sure there are so many people like that who were either nearby or on their way or like this friend of mine who ran the marathon, he had finished the marathon then he and a couple of buddies went about a mile away and were in a restaurant eating lunch when they heard the news

of this and they had just come from the scene. igor volsky from think progress joins us coming up next. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. it is "full court press." we're covering the news of the day and a lot of time on the biggest story of the day, of course. with the investigation underway, full-scale in boston to find out who is behind the terrorist attacks yesterday. we'll get back to your calls

your comments and our news of the day on that issue. first, just a quick little report here from texas on identity theft. turns out there was a group of i.d. thieves who were calling senior citizens in texas claiming that they were affiliated with a national social insurance program and that they were issuing new social security carts therefore, they needed everybody's information all over again like their existing social security number and bank information. unfortunately, too many seniors were suckers for that, gave them the information and then ended up being victims of identity theft. that's why it is important be you protected against it as i am with lifelock ultimate, the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection ever made. even monitors your bank account for fraud. but lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. call now and mention press 60 and you'll get 60 risk-free days of lifelock identity theft

protection. if you're not happy, call them again within 60 days and cancel to get a full refund. call them at 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. we welcome in studio, as we do every tuesday morning the managing editor of think progress igor volsky. good morning. >> good morning. >> bill: not as cheery a morning. >> we've had better morning. >> bill: we've had better morning, indeed. peter, you've been following the social media. >> keep us posted on stuff on twitter at bpshow at bp show. a lot of people not happy with peter king's comments. aria says that peter king wanted to focus on muslim businesses and restaurants. at least he gave me a list of places to give my business to from aria. and a lot of people saying, in response to peter king, remember a lot of acts of terror that have happened in this country come domestically

when you look at the bombing in atlanta, oklahoma city, abortion clinics, not necessarily the case that al-qaeda was here. >> bill: it is not necessarily the case it was domestic. we just don't know. for somebody, the chair of the homeland security committee to come out and make that accusation, i think it is irpossible. when events like this happen, i think the president showed this yesterday. maybe the number one thing a public official needs is restraint. governor of massachusetts, the mayor of boston, the police commissioner of boston, i thought they all acted very responsibly yesterday. >> pete king on fox jane harmon the former congresswoman from california on cnn, minutes after the bombing speculating that it is al-qaeda, connected to this, connected to that, on cnn's live coverage of the bombing maybe 20, 30 minutes later. the height of irresponsibility when, as you know, the pattern

with these events is the initial information that you hear is wrong and we only find out the truth as we get through the investigation. >> bill: so think progress, you follow the events of the day and your blog -- what did you just kind of shift gears. >> we shifted gears immediately. it is a sad commentary that from the aurora shooting to the newtown shooting to now this, we kind of have a strategy in place when something like this happens to break from our normal, political coverage and cover this live in the live blog form, aggregating the news as we see it on twitter on television, trying to bring readers the very latest. but the speculating the knee-jerk reactions from some people in the media on twitter some of the very ideological folks who jump to conclusions about who this is, where they're from. even reputable papers like the "new york post" had a story

again, maybe 20, 30 minutes were the first ones out putting the death toll at some 26 immediately, saying that there were foreign elements responsible. that the police had a foreign element in custody. those reports inaccurate. they seemed to have some saudi national in custody but they're not calling him a suspect for now. so you've got to be really careful in moments like this and you're only reporting and aggregating news as far as we're concerned that's credible, that's verified because panic is the worst in these situations. >> bill: i must say i turn on the tube, cbs was on. i ended up staying with cbs. i thought scott pelley did a very, very good job. >> in fact -- >> bill: and the cbs crew. >> there was a moment when someone called it an attack early on and he even said look, we don't know this was an attack at this point.

early on, look we had no idea. it could have been. >> even calling it a bomb early on. very unknown. all we knew were explosions. >> bill: awhile before they daald a terrorist attack. peter, we were talking earlier john miller -- >> that sounds right. >> bill: reporter went to work for the fbi now back at cbs. let's find out. he deserves some credit. he was very, very good last night on the -- he deserves some credit. john miller? i watched some cnn too. they were, i thought very good and very responsible. >> after the president spoke you had all of these questions on fox and why isn't he calling it a terrorist attack. i don't know understand this idea of -- the key questions here are who did it, why they did it. are there anymore attacks. not what you call it in the minutes after a terrorist attack

or not a terrorist attack but it gets politicized particularly in this post-9-11 culture so quickly and i do have to say that the president i think did the right and measured thing and said we don't have any information. we don't have all of the pieces. what we do know is justice will be solved by those who perpetrated it. let's take a step back. investigate it. and move from there. >> bill: i don't think look at president obama's track record with going after at least foreign terrorists on foreign soil with the drones which we've been critical of, in some cases you don't have any -- you don't need to not have any doubts he will follow through on his word. let's say a quick hello to john calling from ferndale, washington. what do you say? >> caller: good morning mr. volsky and bill. i want to thank you guys because, you know, it would be

so easy, so easy for us to start speculating. i'm a democrat. it would be so easy to say maybe it was militia. maybe it was north korea. the thing is we don't know and the hardest thing to do is not to know and to reserve your judgment and to keep your powder dry and say we'll find out in good time. until then, we're made of sterner stuff. we're not going to panic. we should be grateful that it wasn't a dirty bomb. it is awful that people have died and people have been maimed and justice will be meeted out but we're not a nation of cowards. >> bill: well said, well said. i read this morning too someone made the point that because this was such a tight security area at the end of the finish line to the marathon, there were no cars in the area. this they been able to pack a car or truck with explosives, it could have been a lot lot worse. >> also, the boston marathon is an elite race.

you had 3/4 of the runners already way past the finish line. if that wasn't the case, you could have had a lot more casualties as well. >> you don't just get to run the marathon. you have to qualify. that's why this last wave of people that were coming in, they let charities run, people who raise money for whatever the charities are. they get to run but it is the last wave. they let all of the other runners go first. >> bill: so that explains why so many had already gone through. >> yeah. >> bill: igor, i do want to ask you a couple of other issues here before we move on. then we're going to talk in the next segment to a man who ran the boston marathon. in fact, came in right up near the front of the marathon and get his impressions and talk about his experience yesterday. couple other stories that you reported on yesterday. so mitt romney was right after all, right? >> according to some -- >> bill: 47%. >> very short memories. this story coming out on tax

day, believe it or. >> no representative rob woodall from georgia was speaking in georgia. this was several weeks ago and said mitt romney was right all along. there are people in this country who are moochers. they don't pay any taxes and they feed off the tax dollar you and i put in for all of those free, federal benefits they receive. they he said, should pay at least a dollar if they want to vote. they need some skin in the game. these 47% moochers. so yeah, get on it. it is the new republican rebranding. being tripped up every step of the way. by statements like this. and taxes on hispanics. >> bill: this guy is from where? >> georgia. rob woodall from georgia. >> bill: maybe a poll tax

would be a good idea. you have to pay to vote. they bring back that and also in georgia, speaking of georgia -- every year, this story -- it kind of trickles through around prom time in high schools in may, these areas in georgia that still have segregated proms. >> bill: i can't believe it. >> it is remarkable. in 2013, you have white students at one prom and then you have an integrated prom for everybody else. this is from -- wilcox county in georgia. a group of friends some black some white are making a push this time around to integrate the prom for everybody else. school officials are resistant. local officials are resistant saying that this is tradition. this is culture.

it is way it's always been done. and now you have the governor of georgia nathan deal. his office responding to the story and saying that the push to integrate proms is from outside agitators agitators who are leftists, a leftist front group is trying to integrate the prom. >> bill: how about brown v. board of education. rob watson, assistant track coach at the university of virginia. he finished 11th in the boston marathon vid. we'll talk to him next with igor volsky from think progress and the rest of us here on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> announcer: the "bill press show," now on current tv. >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour now. igor volsky is in studio with us from think progress. the "full court press" on a tuesday morning. the day after patriots' day and this horrific scene at the boston marathon. running in the boston marathon, the assistant track coach from the university of virginia, rob watson, who did a remarkable marathon in two hours and 15 minutes. coming in 11th. rob, good morning. thank you for joining us. >> hey, good morning. >> bill: first of all congratulations on a great run. >> thank you very much. >> bill: oh, man. so how close to you -- to the finish line when all of this happened, you know, tell us how you found out about it and what was going on.

>> yeah, where i was, i was eating lunch in my hotel which is in the copley square, right near the finish line. i was eating lunch with my brother, pete, the head track coach at uva. we heard this really loud explosion. it was suspicious and odd. about 15 seconds later another one. we knew something serious had happened. we if know what it was exactly. for a few minutes. but i was eating lunch when it happened. >> bill: you heard both explosions. >> yeah, we did. >> bill: did you run out into the street? >> no, no. we were in the dining hall and you know, hotel security here at the copley, they were on it pretty quickly. they assessed the situation and they pretty much immediately put the hotel on lockdown and nobody was allowed in or out. they wanted to make sure all of the guests -- make sure everyone

there was safe and all right. they took us to a safe place. they immediately took control and they did a great job doing that. >> bill: they locked down the hotel. >> yes, they did. >> bill: were there a lot of runners staying in that hotel? >> this was the official meet hotel. the john hancock people who run the boston marathon were based out of here. so a lot of volunteers. extra security and such here at the hotel. so yeah, a lot of runners here. >> bill: as you come through that chute tell us what that's like. everything kind of narrows down, right? on that street there as you're coming through. a lot of security, a lot of media, a lot of crowds, tell us about that. >> yeah. the finish line, you know, it is a huge event. lots of people. huge concentration of people there. the media and lots of volunteers but at the same time, there's lots of medical staff and you

know you have -- off the streets and such. one of the only fortunate things is there were a lot of first responders that were in the immediate vicinity and they were able to assess the situation quickly. because there was a lot going on at the finish line. >> how tight are the spectators because it didn't look like there was a lot of room between say the barricade and the shops there. how tight of an area was that? >> it is one of boston's busiest streets but you know, the boston marathon is such a huge event. there are thousands and thousands of people. they're three or four people deep on that sidewalk. so yeah, there is a high concentration of people there celebrating this event that we had. that they had here yesterday. >> bill: was there any -- either the days leading up to it or the day of the event as you were running any thought

that there might be some trouble or that people were on edge about possible -- something like this happening? >> no, no. i got in last wednesday. the whole entire week it has been all positive. the people of boston really embrace this event. they really look forward to it. it has been such a warm city. amp been so friendly. such a great city, you know. this is a marathon. it is a running event. it is a celebration. you don't expect something terrible like this to happen. so senseless. you can't predict it. you don't have any idea. >> in the aftermath we've heard stories of runners running to hospitals, to donate blood. people of boston to getting the runners in who have traveled and can get back to their homes. stories of the citizens of boston helping each other. >> yeah. >> bill: i was asked that question because i remember

shortly after september 11th, like super bowl, right everybody thought well a big event like this, right. this could be the place. but i didn't hear any talk of that at all. i was wondering if you did in boston about possible -- something like this possibly happening there. well rob again congratulations on a great time. i'm sorry that, you know, your experience and so many others was shattered by this horrific event yesterday. but it is good of you to join us this morning. thank you. >> no problem. take c.a.r.e. >> bill: boy i'm not going to try to beat that record at 2:15. igor volsky, thank you for coming in. especially on a day like this. we'll see you again next week. here on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." i felt like my feet were going to sleep. it progressed from there to burning to like a thousand bees

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>> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: at this hour yesterday on the "full court press," we were talking about carnival cruise. kay caputo told us yesterday the president of carnival earned $50 million last year. she now sends another e-mail saying she was wrong. he actually earned $90 million last year. and on a followup story, "the new york times" reporting this morning that cruise line, maybe they were listening to the show yesterday morning, they have now said that they are going to reimburse the coast guard for

the cost of their rescue. $780,000.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody. fellow americans welcome to the "full court press." this tuesday april 16. it is good to see you today. lots to talk about. lots happening in the news. most of it centered, of course, around the bad news from boston. we are here coming to you live on current tv from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c.

not only informing you of what's going on this morning but also giving. >> chance to talk about it. at 1-866-55-press. let us know what all of the issues mean and events of the day mean to you and to your family on our phone line, again 1-866-55-press. on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. an entire nation in shock today. as the terrorist attack at the end of the boston marathon turns to celebration -- turns a celebration into bloody mayhem. three people killed. as many as 140 injured serious injuries. loss of limbs in many cases. still no word from authorities as to who was behind it. domestic or foreign terrorists and how they managed to plant these bombs. but the fbi is on the case. and president obama has vowed that those people will be found and will be brought to justice. here in washington, the gang of eight yesterday releasing its outline for comprehensive

immigration reform. and in the senate, joe manchin and pat toomey and harry reid still looking for votes on background checks for all guns. that and more right here on current tv. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

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life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> occupy! >> we will have class warfare. (vo) true stories, current perspective. documentaries. on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the investigation continues in boston, still no word from authorities on who was responsible for yesterday's terrorist attack or how they managed to plant those bombs at the finish line of the boston marathon. president obama vowing we'll find them and bring them to justice. good morning everybody. that is the focus of our show

this morning. welcome to the "full court press" here on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv. this tuesday morning. april 16. good to have you with us. we're trying to keep you up to date on all of the news of the day, not just boston, what else is going on here in our nation's capital, around the country and around the globe. taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. your comments on twitter at bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/"bill press show." be our friend on facebook. join the conversation here on this tuesday morning. good to have you with us again. we have reached out to some of our good friends this morning to help us through the news of the day. joining us from the aclu, the senior legislative council chris anders in studio with us again this morning. good to you have back. >> good morning. >> bill: i know you guys made a little news over the weekend

call on the white house to come forth with their policy on drones. i want to hear all about that. that's why we're glad to have you here this morning. with our team. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> good morning. >> bill: with alichia cruz on phones and cyprian bowlding with the video cams as well. i was at the white house yesterday on the briefing and everything was as normal at that time. and then the president went into the east room of the white house about 2:00 yesterday to welcome you know, you have to understand chris peter graduated from the university of alabama. >> university of alabama. >> bill: crimson tide is part of the studio. >> that's right. >> bill: there they were, as the president said, i'm getting tired of seeing these guys around the white house. >> obama: i want to congratulate them on winning their 15th national championship and their third in four years. they're starting to learn their way around the white house. >> bill: they feel right at

home. and the president says no doubt we'll see you guys again. >> obama: since i'll be around for four more football seasons i expect i just might see these guys again before i leave. so go, tide. [ applause ] >> that sounds good. i like the way he says that. >> bill: right. and then, of course, after that event, word hit the white house as well as the rest of us about the explosion of the two bombs at the end of the marathon there in boston. and that's been the focus of most of our conversation this morning. chris van hollen will be joining us in studio in the next hour. we'll also be talking with congressman tony cardenas, a freshman congressman from california. and michael graham will be joining us at the half hour. he is another talk show host, fellow talk show host from boston.

we'll start with chris anders here talking about drones. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> quick check of the headlines here. former president george w. bush is enjoying spending his time painting and he's enjoying hearing what other people think about his paintings. he said that to the "dallas morning news." people are surprised to see his work but also "some people are surprised i can even read." he says he enjoys bursting the stereotypes, he's taking the painting class once a week. read the book "painting as a pastime" by winston churchill for inspiration. >> bill: well, peter there you go, you've been critical, skeptical about the president. >> i know, i have. >> bill: painting cat and dogs. >> maybe he's on to something here. >> the next picasso. >> i'm actually stunned to learn he can read. >> the anne frank house in the netherlands is defending justin bieber after he wrote in their

guest book that he hoped anne frank would have been one of his belieber fans. the museum released a statement saying people need to focus on the positive here. what is special is that a 19-year-old spent an hour at a museum on a friday night when he could have been doing something else in amsterdam. the anti-defamation league also defended bieber saying that if you read into anne frank's diary, she was into celebrities and pop culture so what he wrote is actually a nice thing. >> oh, stop it! just stop it. >> in colorado -- and washington are preparing for an influx of tourists, pot tourists because of the date, april 20th for 50,000 people expected to light up in denver's civic center park. and marijuana-loving rapper snoop lion is attending the cannabis cup after the denver convention center. "huffington post" reporting

several tourism places in washington state are booked as well. >> alan st. pierre will be in denver. >> bill: no doubt. i never thought about the fact that they might have these great big puff-ins, right? >> i'm sure you never thought about it, bill. >> bill: 50,000 people? >> yep. they're taking over -- a park. they're going to light up at once maybe at 4:20 in the afternoon. >> bill: this is the one case where secondhand smoke is welcome. right? all you would have to be is inside the city limits and you could probably get high. >> good thing about it. you don't even have to have any weed. you just show up. >> bill: walk off the plane in denver and boom! >> rocky mountain high right off the plane. >> bill: 12 minutes after the hour here. so chris yesterday i saw this -- from the saturday "new york times." on friday, a group of human rights organizations, including the american civil liberties

union, amnesty international the center for constitutional rights human rights first human rights watch the open society foundations and other groups released a letter, nine-page letter to president obama asking the administration to reveal its legal basis for targeting killing and called for an end to the secrecy surrounding the use of drones. what's the purpose of the letter? >> this is the first time that all of the human rights groups in the united states including some that operate internationally as well all signed on to the same letter telling president obama that in our view, this is an illegal program. that this is a program that needs to end the way it's been operated. and that we also need to know a lot more about the program. >> bill: didn't the president say when john brennan's confirmation up and you were in, we talked about this before, that they were going to come

forward with their guidelines and their policy and so we would all know when they used drones and who makes the decisions? >> well, they -- at that time, because to try to get john brennan confirmed to be c.i.a. director they let a few more pieces of the information about the drone program out. particularly to members of the senate intelligence committee. but once he was confirmed they slammed the door again and we are getting no more information. and so really, what this is about and what our letter is about is that at the very start what we need to know is how this program is operating what the legal authority is. because it seems like with 4700 people dead which is what congressman -- senator lindsey graham has estimated including four american citizens, this is not a program that's just about top al-qaeda operatives if we

actually know who those people are. this is a program that is very widespread across multiple continents and it is not something that congress has ever authorized. >> bill: so has the administration moved all the drone program from the c.i.a. into the defense department? >> no. there has been a proposal that's been reported that kind of over time, they're going to transfer the control of the program from the c.i.a. to the defense department. but what we believe is going to still be allowed is the c.i.a. will still have responsibility for finding what's called finding and fixing the enemy. so basically it is locating who the target is and then basically getting them into the cross hairs. but then the decision on actually firing the missile would be at the defense department. which is an important change but

it also means the c.i.a. would retain a role. now, what we've also been told, this may be something that will take some time, possibly even a couple of years because the c.i.a. wants to retain control over drone strikes in pakistan which is where most of the drone strikes are happening. >> bill: do we know questions about the drones, i think it is a very troubling situation on so many levels but let's start with -- is this an act of war? >> well, that's -- it should be. >> bill: if so, then who makes the decision? what's the constitutional authority or legal authority for the expanded use of these drones? >> well, here's the thing. we still don't know. even senators on key committees don't know. so the senate intelligence committee and now the senate judiciary committee have been given, we believe five legal opinions from the justice

department. it sounds like there is a lot of disclosure except senator feinstein's a chairman of the senate intelligence committee believes that there are 11 legal opinions. so there are six legal opinions that haven't even been turned over to the top senators. and those legal opinions are ones dealing with -- they aren't specifically dealing with the united states citizens. we believe those are really, really broad opinions that are basically saying the president can kind of go wherever he wants whenever he wants. >> bill: that's why i come back to whether this is considered an act of war because under the constitution, only congress can declare war. can the president make a unilateral decision that we're going to go to war against pakistan? >> the only time the president -- the only time the president can do that is to protect the country against an imminent attack, right? and that goes right back to the founding fathers who said that even if congress doesn't have

time to authorize something the president can take military action to protect the country against imminent attack but that's not what's happening here where you have hundreds of drone strikes being carried out over time and 4700 people dead. now, there is a legal opinion if you go back to libya where the president never went to congress never got authorization. >> bill: right. >> we were sending in gunships to chase down people and kill them across libya as well as all kinds of other air support there was a legal opinion that basically said the president under the constitution, doesn't center to go to congress. the president can make these decisions on his own. and that was a publicly-released opinion. >> bill: from the justice department. >> from the justice department. basically, their argument is they go through a whole bunch of other instances from kosovo and bosnia haiti they go through

panama, other places where the president, a president has gone in and used military force without first going to congress. and they basically say you know, they've done it a bunch of times. now they can keep on -- the president can keep on doing it. >> bill: so with drones, what we can conclude is first the legislator for congressional branch is not involved at all right? in their decisions about using using -- >> they usually are getting after the fact. >> bill: decisions are all being made in the executive branch. >> that's right. >> bill: how high up in the executive branch? >> we were told that, i think it was reported for awhile was that the president was personally making each of these decisions. >> bill: every decision. reviewed by him and then approved. >> what we've heard more recently is that once that got reported, that it got embarrassing to the white house this idea that the president is sitting there deciding who lives and who dies and so now it is being pushed down to a lower level.

i don't know if that's secretary of defense c.i.a. director, whoever. i don't know which is more disturbing that a bureaucrat gets to do it or the president. >> bill: i don't like the fact the president might be doing it but the idea you say okay, i'll have my assistant take care of it. i don't want to know about it. you know what a lot of people will say, look what happened in boston yesterday. if we had drones, if we had only had drones in boston, hoering over those -- hovering over those downtown streets, we might have caught whoever planted those bombs in the containers so maybe drones are a good idea. >> look, i don't think there's anyone who's seriously looking for the drones to be used, armed drones to be used in the united states. >> bill: i mean as surveillance. for surveillance. >> look, there are places where there have been surveillance drones being used within the united states and they've raised

lots of different questions lots of different privacy issues. there's something that a bipartisan group in congress, including some very conservative republicans are very concerned about. in boston, there are so many -- there were so many cameras at the finish line that, you know, the hope that everyone has is those -- that material can be used to find whoever caused it. >> bill: so is the position of the aclu, would you be against drones for surveillance in this country? domestic use of drones? >> well, i think -- >> bill: by police departments -- >> i think there would have to be a very clear understanding of exactly, you know, what the purpose is of using a drone domestically for surveillance purposes. i think there are places where you know, we've heard about in forest areas where there is an interest some people have in

using drones to look for forest fires and things like that. there may be places where it makes sense to use them. to be using them as regular part of police work, you know, that raises some really key constitutional concerns. >> bill: chris anders is the legislative council senior legislative council for the aclu. one of the organizations calling on the white house on friday to do what they promised to do and give us the guideline publish the guidelines that they use in determining how and when to use drones. 1-866-55-press is the toll free number. your questions, your comments welcome. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

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>> bill: back to boston with talk show host michael graham. headline from "the new york times", rights groups, in letter to obama question the legality and the secrecy of drone killings. chris anders is with the aclu here in studio with us. so chris, according to the letter, the reported policies raised serious questions about whether the united states is operating in accordance with international law. so are these drone strikes illegal? do you believe? >> these drone strikes the way they're being carried out is illegal. >> bill: that's a pretty bold statement. the united states is breaking the law.

>> well, the only time the united states, outside a battlefield area the only time the united states or any country can use lethal force against someone is in self-defense. and what we know from a leaked document, a leaked legal document that is called the white paper. they have this view of what self-defense means. a view of self-defense is not -- would not be recognized by any court in the united states and no court in the world. it basically says that the test for self-defense is you have to be stopping an imminent threat. but here they're saying imminent does not mean it is about to happen. imminent just means there's some kind of pattern of behavior. >> bill: some day you think it might happen. >> yeah. >> bill: i think it is extremely important issue. i'm glad you're out in front. i think we've got to keep the pressure on and not only be careful about those drones over there but the drones right here, too. chris anders, always good to

have you in the studio. we'll be right back. back to boston. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we go at 33 minutes after the hour. welcome back to the "full court press" coming to you from our nation's capital this tuesday morning, april 16. focusing our thoughts and our talk as most of you are across the nation, on the horrific

events in boston yesterday. a day of celebration on poitry gets day -- on patriots' day as the two bombs exploded about 10 minutes to 3:00 yesterday afternoon. boston police reporting they apparently have videotape of the bombs being planted in peter trash containers, two trash containers, a block or so apart. hopefully that will lead soon tracking down who was responsible for it and bringing them to justice. the entire city, the entire nation in shock. joining us from boston, fellow talk show host and a good friend from our days together at a station here in washington, d.c., now syndicated throughout massachusetts, talk show host michael graham. good to talk to you. >> good morning bill. thanks for having me. >> bill: tell us about -- maybe most people don't

recognize patriots' day in boston and the boston marathon, i mean this is like -- this is christmas -- everything rolled into one isn't it? >> you know what, it is interesting because it is more of a family, friend gathering. the day starts actually at 5:00 a.m. for a lot of people who go up to lexington massachusetts for the reenactment of the first battle with the british. so you've got a bunch of families out for that. red sox, rare, weekday day game that started at 11:05. school vacation week started yesterday. all of the kids are off school. you throw in the marathon, it stations broadcasting the entire marathon through the day. boston being as boston as you can get. and to have this happen in the middle of that, wasn't an attack on a bunch of pro athletes. this wasn't attacking gillette stadium or foxboro during a

patriot's game. the people who were finishing at that point at 2:50 to 3:00, those weren't the elite athletes. the kenyans had been done almost an hour earlier. my wife left for work early yesterday because she and a bunch of her office mates were going to cheer on a friend, one of their coworkers who was running in the marathon. about the time she would have been finishing the race. >> bill: we talked to one of the runners earlier a guy who finished 11th, actually, he ran the thing in two hours and 15 minutes. he was long out of there right. so the people who qualified and do a lot of marathons, they were -- these were the locals running for charity. >> people -- you know, people said always wanted to run a marathon. it is a goal in their life. obviously it is a prestigious marathon. it is one of the things a lot of people brag about. john kerry claims he ran it, i can't remember what year. yeah, okay.

it is a community event. bostonians put on the marathon. a few years ago a group of runners came over from greece to bring a flame from the flame at marathon to help start off the race here in hopkinton. my kids live there by the way. the runners from greece stayed at my house while they were here. this is a community family thing then to have the bombs go off right in the heart of it, it makes -- we have no context for it. >> that's the thing because a lot of these races that happen in metropolitan areas the finish line is right in the heart of the city. >> it is where boston goes to party. if ogborn were in town, i would take him to the bar. louie's is the steak joint when parents visit their kids going to college the kids force them to go there for a very expensive

steak and very good steak. the place where i get my haircut is one block behind. this is boston hanging out. i was talking to my wife this morning. she said -- this bothered her a lot more than she could really understand. she wasn't there. she watched it way back, like 20 miles out. it is a 26.2 mile route obviously. my column in the herald today the subhead is bostonian -- i've been here for almost eight years, i really think until yesterday, the place i worked, where my family was where i live but yesterday i became a bostonian down in my gut. this hit me me and a lot of other transplants in a way that it is so personal. it is so about this place. this place where we go and we live. this wasn't an attack on a politician who happened to be here. it wasn't an attack on a sports event where the team happened to

be here. this was an attack on the people of boston. >> bill: you know, to make it even -- to compound the tragedy i guess, we were talking this morning, the last -- i don't know how long, last part of the marathon route was dedicated to the victims of sandy hook elementary school and some of the families from newtown were even there at the finish line in the grandstands right? >> very near the explosion site where the bleachers were. >> bill: as if they hadn't suffered enough, right? >> exactly. the first 20 miles they dedicated to the kids. the last six miles they dedicated to the six educators. to compound that, the fact that one of the victims was an 8-year-old little boy who had gone out to meet his father and to give him a hug for running the marathon and to know he's dead and his sister is injured is just -- >> bill: michael i'm sure you don't want to get into the speculation. i was really annoyed at peter

king who came out right away and said it looks like al-qaeda to me. who knows, right? we remember atlanta. we remember oklahoma city. what are the police saying in boston right now. >> they're not saying a lot. they kept denying they had a person of interest all day yesterday. police commissioner, ed davis explicitly said we do not have a suspect at brigham and women's hospital while there were cops surrounding the hospital and there was an armored vehicle outside. people could see the cops talking to somebody. so, you know, part of the thinking now this 20-year-old saudi national's apartment was searched in revere yesterday and several bags of stuff was taken away. some of the thinks was they weren't sure if he was involved. they wanted to investigate. they didn't want to tip anyone off. so they didn't give the full story. we still don't know if this guy has any connection. tweeted out about 3:00 this morning that the police told him

the guy had nothing to do with it. there is a press report at 9:30. number one is based purely on math chances are there was religion-inspired terrorism but that's based on math. we have no specific evidence. the second thing is i think it is fascinating, when i first got the word of it, i was at my radio station, i wasn't downtown when this happened so when my twitter exploded and my facebook and my phone started buzzing off the hook, my first reaction was explosion at the finish line, i'm like what? a couple of manhole covers blow up? we've had a problem with this lately. maybe some prankster set off some firecrackers, whatever. so interesting to me how the reaction of the people i know was all this problem isn't a big deal. which think of how different that is from when the iraq war was at its height. so different after 9-11. then when the word came it was clearly devices and we knew this

was an act of some kind, people were very slow to jump to the kind of the stereotypical obvious conclusion i think in part because we've a seen so many things since then. this is a college town. college kids do dopey things. angry and confused. do very self-destructive things sometimes. what i'm saying is i think people here are prepared for it to be another act of terror committed in the name of islam but they're also open to the idea that there were 100 other explanations in truly waiting to see. >> bill: the president spoke yesterday about the resilience and the determination of the people of boston. i think i hear it in your voice again this morning. you have no doubt people are united together and will be even -- come out of this even stronger than ever. >> they're all over the media there, boston will never be the same.

i completely disagree. boston will be the same. this was a bad action by a bad actor but isn't -- bostonians turning against bostonians. this will be a horrific crime that boston will stand up, dust itself off and go forward afterwards. if we could survive the hideous performance of john lachey the past two seasons for the red sox, we can certainly survive this. [ laughter ] >> that's about as good of a response you're going to get from a bostonian. >> don't even go to the -- i don't want to talk about that. >> bill: just a little chance to have some conversation with michael graham this morning. those of you around the country want to follow michael graham can do so at michaelgraham.com. those of you in massachusetts who want to listen to him can find at michaelgraham.com where you can hear him in the great state of massachusetts. michael, good to know you're still going strong, man. >> thanks, bill. i'm glad you're still out in the media. i was on current tv last night

for the first time. it was very exciting. >> bill: we won't be here for long. >> welcome to the dark side. >> bill: all right, michael, talk to you again soon. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in

the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything. >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: here we go. 13 minutes now before the top of the hour. it is the "full court press." here on a tuesday morning. april 16.

the attention of the nation focused on boston and now first the horrific event yesterday the aftermath. three people killed including one 8-year-old boy. 140 injured, of some them very seriously with a loss of limbs and now the investigation underway in and the boston police reporting this morning they do have videotape of people planting these bombs in the containers which hopefully will lead soon to some -- at least the identification of who is responsible and hopefully some arrests in that situation. there on the scene yesterday matt jocelyn is a senior at emerson college and he joins us on our news line this morning from boston. hey, matt, good to talk to you this morning. thank you. >> how are you doing? >> bill: all right so you were in the area yesterday. what were you doing there?

what brought you there and what did you see? >> well, i'm a senior at emerson college and i was at the event doing some coverage for school on some fellow classmates -- >> bill: let me interrupt you to say that we're showing for our current tv viewers the video that you shot yesterday. so you were there during a project for school? >> yes. shooting video for a project for school. and i was at the center waiting for one of my classmates to finish up, to try to get footage of him crossing the finish line. i was standing outside of the mandarin hotel which is on boylston street. shooting up the street looking for my friend when the first bomb went off. looks back down the street toward the finish line and saw a huge plume of smoke. it sounded like a fire work had

gone off. really big firework. you could feel the deep boom of the explosion. but i think because it sounded like a firework, everybody started looking around, not sure what exactly had just happened. clearly, there's smoke and sometimes explosions. but it didn't seem that threatening at that point. >> bill: yes. >> that's when you know, about 15, 20 seconds later the second bomb went off right across the street. from where i was standing. and i think that's when everybody realized that this was the time to panic. people just started running in every direction. a lot of people, people were shouting get off the sidewalk. get off the sidewalk! because you could see the explosions were happening on the sidewalk. so a lot of people just shoved the metal barriers down in front of us and just jumped into the street. >> bill: so you were near the second explosion.

from what the video that i've seen, most of the video was shot around -- we saw so many injuries, at the first explosion, right at the finish line. were there significant injuries from the second bomb? was that as big? >> definitely. i mean i was -- i was in the moment thinking i'm a journalist, i need to go out there and cover this. and so i ran directly, right up to where i had seen the second blast go off. and i should have, i think been more prepared for the scene i was running into. i was running into a bomb blast. i should have known what i was about to see but i don't think you can really be prepared. there were some pretty graphic -- just disturbing injuries there. right outside the second blast.

>> bill: and were there as there were farther up the street were there cops and ems personnel, medical personnel in that area as well? >> oh, yeah. the first reaction you have when you run up on the scene is oh, my god how do i help? but i think the second thought i had was wow, there are police officers here. there's medical personnel. there's all of the people that need to be here in order to help these people right now. >> matt, you heard a lot of stories about the runners who finished and they continued to run on to the hospital to donate blood. what was sort of -- what were the runners doing that you saw when you were on the scene? >> actually, there was this crazy moment when i was sitting on boylston street looking down toward the finish line, trying to set up my camera. that's when a runner just ran right past me who, i think had

still been running the race and was looking around like i can't believe what's going on. just kind of kept running toward the finish line. but you also saw runners who had just -- immediate panic after the second bomb went off. a lot of people were running away. but for every ten people running away there's somebody running toward the blast trying to figure out how they can help. >> bill: right. >> that was the thing that struck me is watching the video and matt, watching your video. is watching some of these runners run right toward the scene of the blast. remarkable. >> bill: right. >> yeah. >> bill: i have to ask about your friend. was he or she -- escape any harm yesterday? >> luckily yeah. everybody i knew in the race escaped harm. my friend was actually just turning on to boylston street when he saw the first bomb

explode. basically from the top of the street looking all the way down to copley plaza where the finish line was. >> bill: matt, it was good of you to join us this morning. horrific experience for you yesterday and we appreciate the video as well. >> again, we tweeted out the video at bpshow if you want to see what matt shot there. >> bill: matt josselyn is a senior at boston college. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

current tv is the place for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." belle here we go. three minutes now before the top

of the hour. in the next hour, two democratic members of congression. congressman tony cardenas from southern california and congressman chris van hollen, part of the democratic leadership, he will be in studio with us. we'll also be checking in with boston with "usa today" reporter who was on the scene yesterday. president obama at the white house after he gets the daily briefing has a working lunch with crown prince mohammed zayed of the united arab emirates then he will be welcoming nascar sprint cup series championship driver brad keselowski to the white house at 3:00 this afternoon. at 4:30, the president and vice president meet with secretary of defense chuck hagel. a briefing today at the white house will be at 1:15 with press secretary jay carney. back for another hour with congressman tony cardenas and

congressman chris van hollen. see you then. stay around. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning friends and neighbors. tuesday morning april 16. good to see you today. thank you for being part of the "full court press" here on current tv. our morning town hall where we bring you up to date on what's happening in the nation's capital, around the country and around the globe. but today most of our focus, of course on boston and the mayhem at the end of the boston

marathon yesterday. that's mainly what we'll be talking about. you can join us and we love to get your comments by phone at 1-866-55-press. on twitter at bpshow. and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. yes, a nation in shock not just the city of boston when terrorists turn that act -- that big celebration at the end of the boston marathon into bloody mayhem yesterday afternoon at about 10 minutes to 3:00. with three people killed including one poor little 8-year-old boy and 140 wounded many of them suffering loss of limbs. still no word from authorities as to who might have been responsible or how they planted those bombs. police are reporting this morning they do have video of the bombs being planted by individuals in trash containers along boylston street in boston. clearly though, it is an act of terrorism and the fbi is on the

case. here in washington, d.c. yesterday, senators, bipartisan group called the gang of eight released their comprehensive immigration reform. we'll talk about that and a whole lot more right here on current tv.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know

that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all eyes on boston and the investigation to find out who was responsible for the terrorist attack yesterday. and who tracked them down and bring them to justice as president obama vowed at the white house shortly after the explosions yesterday afternoon. good morning everybody.

what do you say? it is tuesday april 16. this is the "full court press." we're coming to you live from our nation's capital and our studio right here on capitol hill in washington, d.c. of course, all eyes focused on boston. a lot happening here in washington. the immigration reform legislation we've been waiting for was unveiled by the gang of eight. joe manchin and pat toomey, republican and democratic senators working to get those votes. on the universal background checks. that vote could come up as early as tomorrow in the united states senate. but everything -- everything was just put aside. everything was put on the back burner once news of that terrorist attack at the end of the boston marathon yesterday happened. that news spread around the world and this is where the focus has been. it has been the focus of our program this morning as well here on the "full court press." something you're going to want to comment and talk about.

give us a call at 1-866-55-press. or send us your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com. /billpressshow. >> remember, we're on twitter at bpshow, as you mentioned. we're getting a lot of comments, a lot of stories a lot of reaction. feel free to reach out. let us know what your experience was like and what you saw. we're getting a lot of great stories there. find us there. >> bill: yes. peter, just -- we're juggling events here as we go. we'll be going up to boston shortly to talk to melanie who is in boston. has been covering the events up there. will bring us up to date on the latest on the police investigation. we'll also be joined a little bit later by congressman chris

van hollen, part of the leadership, of course, in among democrats in the house of representatives. we wanted to start at the very top of this hour welcoming a freshman member of congress from my home state of california. coming from southern california, the great san fernando valley, congressman tony cardenas, good to see you. thank you for coming in. >> had to come all the way to d.c. to see you again. >> bill: i know. it has been a long time. everything good? congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> bill: nice to you have on board. are you feeling all at home? find your way around? >> it gets a little warm and humid over here but other than that, i will be all right. >> bill: so, i wanted to talk to you about a couple of things. let's start with the immigration reform. this bipartisan bill announced revealed in the senate yesterday, including a path to citizenship. is this the right track? do you think we're on the right track? >> we're further down the track than we've been in about 30 years. it is really good to see the

senators, both republicans and democrats rolled up their sleeves and realize that we need to get something done and i think there is a tremendous progress so far. >> bill: we've been deal with this problem in california for a long time. right? and there's no doubt i mean, path to citizenship must be part of -- must be a central part of it. >> absolutely. whether it is an ag worker or somebody in silicon valley who is an engineer who is badly needed, either way they are tremendously important to the economy. without a path to citizenship it is not a kind of system we should be continuing with. >> bill: what worries me a little bit congressman is some people are saying, of course, we're going to accept a path to citizenship. then they want to make it so long we're talking like some, i've heard 13 years and pay a fine and do all of this stuff. why make it so difficult? >> well, i think some people still have a problem with the idea that immigrants come here and contribute. i think if most americans would

peek into any kitchen around the country or even maybe look out and see who's actually cutting the lawns or actually walking the babies down the nice neighborhoods, they would realize that immigrants are an integral part of the economy and something we depend on. i think if people looked at it that way they wouldn't be so mean about it. the idea that it should take 13 years for a path of citizenship is a mean-spirited feeling. but i think when people look at it economically, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we'll see our economic situation get better overnight. >> bill: you mention very -- right on, as far as i'm concerned, so many industries, not just in california but across the nation, depend on this work force right. whether it's hotel industry or home or gardening or so many of our agricultural crops. so is a guest worker program, do you believe also a necessary part of any immigration law? >> a guest worker program the way we've seen in the past is

not acceptable. i think what we should have is a program where people come here to work and they have an ability to walk around the streets and go shopping at night. they're able to take their kids to school in the morning and things of that nature. i don't think that we should have a second class citizen or excuse me, not even citizen a second class person system which we've had in some guest worker programs in the past. it needs to be something where there's dignity to it and people are treated like human beings and not second class people. >> bill: who is the next mayor of los angeles? >> i don't know. it is pretty darn close. we'll see what happens. >> bill: i know. wendy gruhl from the san fernando valley. >> wendy is my pick -- wendy is my pick for mayor. it will be a close race. >> bill: who will be the next labor secretary? >> i think tom bettis is someone who is wonderful smart as can be. he's a tremendous public servant. he's done some tremendous work in maryland and doing some

tremendous work at the national level and i think that the hearing should go well. if they try to attack him or say he's not smart or qualified they'll be surprised. >> bill: i don't understand the opposition to tom. i don't personally know him. his record in maryland is outstanding. people -- he wanted to raise the minimum wage. people attack him. hello, right? >> some people say what a bad thing. i say what a wonderful thing. >> bill: exactly. or they say that he was maybe -- you know, too much on the side of immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform. >> he's just a strong, intelligent voice. he's someone who really cares about this country. and understands what it is like to respect the common worker. i think that's one the wonderful reasons why he's going to make a great labor secretary. i've been fortunate. just serendipitously, somebody

about ten years ago said you gotta meet this guy tom perez. he will be in town. when i met him, i fell in love with him. he's so intelligent. he loves this country so much. he is just the perfect example of what this country is about. somebody whose parents were from the dominican republic. he came here, smart as can be. just appreciates this country so much and is such a tremendous public servant. >> bill: our good friend, hilda solis did a great job. >> she's from los angeles, too. i've known her a long time. >> bill: so have i. i think tom perez is ready to step right into those shoes and continue to do a good job. just have to get through this buzz saw called the confirmation hearing. i want to ask you also, congressman, we've been working on this a long time. i remember in california, they used to call it the sleeping giant, right. the latino vote. and it was how are we going to wake them up and get them involved in politics.

what happened in california and how is it going now? >> in california, the latino vote is turning out in stronger and stronger numbers. we've seen that across the country. and getting back to, you know, when it comes to immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform, i think that republicans and democrats alike saw on november 6 2012, that the latino vote is a critical vote an educated vote and when it comes to issues we need to make sure the latino community is appreciated and respected. then you got a chance at being president. >> bill: whoa. first latina president. >> republicans were talking about they may have a guy they would like to put on the ticket and the democrats are positioning themselves as well. >> bill: i know. so marco rubio the savior of the republican party and the latino community both? >> his name comes out a lot. [ laughter ] it does. >> bill: but in california, i'm blanking on the initiative. pete wilson.

>> oh, 187. >> bill: of course. >> best organizing tool latinos ever experienced in california. >> bill: or democrats ever experienced. >> you bet. the latino community has some ways to go but they're waking up. they called it the sleeping giant but i think it is a wonderful, gentle giant. i think latinos are realizing this is a great country. too many people come from different parts of the world and it is unfortunate. because the experience they had in other countries are well, if you get on the wrong side of politics, it might not go well for you. you might literally be dragged out of your home in the middle of the night. when people come from other countries with that feeling, it is hard to warm up to the idea that going out there publicly and voting or putting a lawn side in front of your yard might be targeting yourself. they're starting to realize that just doesn't happen here. here, it is about civic duty and responsibility and it is about the next generation and the next. i think that it's really wonderful to see that latinos in general and in tremendous numbers are starting to realize that this is a true democracy here and it is a democracy that's unlike, perhaps some

false democracies might be from where they come from. >> bill: right. it took awhile for people to understand that. but now that they have, look at the results. the results are -- antonio villaraigosa our friend, yourself here in the united states congress. >> tremendous numbers of latinos in the state legislature in california. we have tremendous numbers of latinas. >> bill: john, speaker of the -- >> we have tremendous numbers of people who are now representing and doing a great job. not just for latinos but for everybody. >> bill: final question about -- i want to come back to where we started immigration reform. we know this. it is refreshing to see some bipartisanship emerge again in the senate on gun control and also on immigration reform. but it looks like we'll get an immigration reform bill through the senate. how about in the house? what is your reading? i know you're new there but what is your reading on the house? will there even be a vote on

immigration reform in the house? >> i think we will see a vote in the house. the rhetoric has toned down since november 6th in both house. it has been much more positive coming out of the senate in a bipartisan way. but i think that since the rhetoric has toned down somewhat in our house we still have the tea partiers in numbers that are tremendously too high in my opinion. but when you get past the tea partiers, i think you'll see there will be a lot more reasonability when it comes to the republican side than we've seen in previous years. i feel confident we'll see a vote. >> bill: some republicans realize that they need to reach out, right? >> but you know, there are a few republicans that think that they're untouchable in those districts. they can be monolithic about their rhetoric and what they stand for but i think there's plenty of republicans when you get to texas and you get to a lot of many states where before, it was -- the rhetoric was harsh on immigrant issues and comprehensive immigration reform. i think it has end to down. so luckily that's plenty of opportunity for us to roll up

our sleeves in our house and get some good legislation done. >> bill: isn't it funny what getting beat 72-27 by the latino vote can do to you. >> some people call it a wake-up call. others say it is practical. i think it is a wonderful thing to see we'll get it done finally. >> bill: congressman tony cardenas representing the 29th congressional district in california in the san fernando valley. thank you so much for coming by. you know now where we are close to the capitol. you're welcome any time. >> good to see you again bill. you have always been a tremendous voice for what's good in this country. >> bill: thank you so much. good to see you. we'll be back, jump back up to boston with u.s.a. reporter -- with "usa today" reporter melanie. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view.

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you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 24 minutes after the hour. tuesday, april 16. the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital. congressman chris van hollen, the ranking democrat on the house budget committee will be here in studio with us in the next half hour. right now, we want to go back up to boston and check in on the situation up there. melanie eversly is a reporter with "usa today" out on the streets of boston this morning. melanie, thanks for joining us. good to have you with us. where are you now exactly downtown boston? >> close to downtown. i'm in a neighborhood called

back bay which is about a quarter of a mile from the finish line. off huntington street which is a major road. >> bill: what's the mood in boston this morning? are people on edge? is traffic moving? are there signs of extra security in tell us about it? >> lots of signs of extra security. i've seen atf agents, men in military uniforms, lots of police. they clearly have their eye on you as you're walking down the street. you feel eyes on you. they're making sure you don't turn down the wrong street. there are still lots of streets barricaded. there is street traffic but it is not what normally would be. this happens to be the same neighborhood i stayed in when the blizzard took place. and i've seen what the area looks like on a normal weekday so it is definitely subdued. you see a lot of runners in their blue and yellow jackets just walking around, looking to see what's what or some folks

are clearly trying to get out of town. >> bill: is the area around the finish line still barricaded off? >> yes. not as much as it was yesterday. yesterday, there was -- i believe it was like an 18-block radius around the finish line or something like that that was blocked off. if you were trying to find a hotel or make your way somewhere, you had to kind of nah gate around. today, i'veth inned that a lot more streets are open but the finish line area, i believe, it is still barricaded off. >> bill: i was in new york last weekend. i was struck maybe for the first time noticing how many surveillance cameras just are -- fixed surveillance cameras up and down 5th avenue, 6th avenue broadway, 7th avenue, times square. is that the case in downtown boston? >> i have not noticed anything like that. in fact, when i got here yesterday, about 6:00 p.m., i was surprised that -- about 7:00 p.m., i was surprised about the

access i got. i said get me as close to the finish line as you can. i figured i would have to walk a mile or o something. but i got pretty close. didn't see security cameras. there were clearly ambulances around and police and lots of law enforcement. but things seem to be pretty open last night. i think it was a situation similar to what happened right after 9-11 when authorities were just trying to figure out a plan. and just kind of -- you know, hustle to put a plan together. >> so what is the plan -- i know a lot of people -- >> bill: is that a police whistle going off? >> yeah, did is. sorry about that. they're directing traffic all over the place. >> bill: that's fine. >> the boston marathon is a destination race. a lot of runners aspire to run in that race. what does it mean for travel for those runners who might be going

back home? how are they handling that situation there in boston? >> well, i will say that yesterday when i arrived, i saw a number of runners in the airport. those who finished early i believe, decided not to stay until tomorrow, just to get out of town as quickly as possible because they anticipated there mountain chaos. i see people leaving hotels this morning. i don't know. this is boston. this is something that people plan on for years. i imagine that some folks that planned vacations around this trip which is usually what happens. so they probably plan on being here for a few days anyway. i think also -- i'm a runner as well. i have friends who ran yesterday. and what happens is like any community. >> bill: melanie, good for you to join us this morning. i'm going to send a thanks to you and your fellow police officers there in boston.

>> chiming in. >> bill: for chiming in this morning here on the "full court press." congressman chris van hollen coming up. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: on a tuesday morning here april 16. it is the "full court press." we're coming to you live on current tv all across this great land of ours and of course, on your local progressive talk radio station. the focus this morning of course, is a lot going on here in our nation's capital most of it has taken a backseat to the

news from boston. joining me in studio, honored to have him back, the ranking democrat on the house budget committee, congressman chris van hollen representing maryland's eighth congressional district, fighting the good fight for all of us americans. >> good to be with you, bill and peter. >> bill: we were just talking from boston, there is some breaking news in terms of the investigation. at least maybe the first break in this case. >> cbs news is reporting that they've used a closed circuit television there. as you know, the finish lines there's so much stuff there. they have to have things in advance. they have the closed circuit tv. the closed circuit tv says that there has been a man carrying backpacks in the vicinity of trash cans near the finish line near where the explosions happened. that's a report from cbs news. >> bill: so planting those

devices, they believe in the trash containers there. >> yeah. >> bill: congressman when this news hits the congress, there are a lot of parallels to after september 11th. people pulling together, we can expect congress, depending on what we find here, right, to be holding some hearings or taking some action. is everybody in a wait and see mood now? >> i think people are -- in the evidence gathering mode, the president was appropriately cautious in his remarks the other day not cautious in terms of bringing the country together but cautious in terms of not speculating about who did this and what the motives are until we collect more evidence. but as the president said, boston will rally together. the country will rally together. behind boston. and the victims of this tragedy. >> bill: the president did as you mentioned last night, he reached out right away to the leaders of congress and i thought made -- you know,

pointed out something which you just alluded to which we should not take forgranted but it is important to be reminded of who rewith when something like this happens. here is the president. >> obama: i've updated leaders of congress in both parties. we reaffirmed on days like this, there are no republicans or democrats, we are united, kennedy for our fellow citizens. >> bill: and determined that we're going to find out who did it and bring them to justice. >> well, that's right. yesterday evening on the floor of the house of representatives mike capuano congressman capuano on behalf of the massachusetts delegation, made a few remarks. then the congress had a moment of silence in memory of the victims and urging everybody to continue to pull together and work together. >> bill: you know, congressman, you know, we know so little and we have no idea who is responsible. it could be, you know, people from another country who are --

infiltrated us once again on our soil or it could be domestic. it does prove that whether here or there, there are people who don't like us, don't like what we stand for and are determined to try to bring us down. >> well, that's right. what we've now seen is that although these acts are senseless, senseless doesn't mean that they don't ever happen. we've seen this now on a couple of occasions. the important thing is we're saying here this morning is that we work together to immediately get to the bottom of it. get the facts and bring whoever the perpetrators are to justice. and then work very hard, of course to make sure that we prevent these things from happening. it is also important, as we work to prevent these things from happening that we remember that we are an open and free society. and that no one wants to live constantly behind barricades. and so it is really important that we strike the right balance. >> bill: that's the challenge

really. and you know, i think it is pretty obvious isn't it, we're never going to go back to what it was like before september 11th when we didn't have to worry about a big public event like this. you could just have a big celebration and think nothing could ever go wrong right? we're all going to live with tighter security. >> we've been living with tighter security, of course, our airports since 9-11. we've been living with tighter security around the united states capital since 9-11, in big cities around the country. much more security. but again i think americans also, they want to make sure they continue to be able to have the freedom to travel different places and so as we look at additional measures that may have to be taken on the security front, it is really important that we not do things that also unnecessarily curtail our freedoms. so let's examine each proposal in that light. >> bill: now the issues here

in front of the united states congress and the american people, of course, did not disappear yesterday. they're still out there. in fact, yesterday it happened to be the day that the so-called gang of eight in the senate just to pick up one issue. released their outline for a comprehensive immigration reform legislation. four democrats four republicans. what are the prospects there, do you think this year for immigration reform, both in the senate and then in the house? >> you know, i'm pretty bullish on immigration reform getting passed this year. there are going to be a lot of bumps along the road but they're they're -- there finally seems to to be an alignment of folks in both parties who want to move this issue forward. now, again, no one wants to spike the football. everyone who has watched washington knows that anything can happen and anything can still derail.

this effort. but the momentum, bill, does seem to be there in favor of immigration reform. i think the political lesson, republicans learned in the last election was they can no longer take such an extremist approach to issues of immigration. >> bill: as somebody put it, it will happen because democrats want it and republicans need it. >> that's right. think about the political distance we've traveled in such a short period of time. we've gone from november where the republican presidential candidate said he would veto the dream act right? it would allow young people the opportunity to work toward citizenship. >> bill: where he was talking about self-deportation. >> here we are. you know, eight months later. where we're talking about the possibility of a bipartisan immigration reform bill. so let's just keep the momentum moving. it is really going to be important that people be engaged this issue. >> bill: is there the same willingness to cooperate and

maybe hammer out a compromise agreement on immigration reform in the house as we've seen in the senate? >> well, interestingly, there is a bipartisan group in the house that has also been negotiating immigration reform. that being said, in the house you also have a much stronger resistance among lots of republicans and in recent weeks you've seen sort of this guard action among some of the totally anti-immigration house republican members. so you have a much bigger clash within the republican party in the house than do you in the senate. so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. the hope would be that whatever bill, bipartisan bill the senate passes, the house will take up. now, you know, speaker boehner has not committed to an up-or-down vote on what the senate passes, whether on immigration reform or on the gun safety. legislation. so, of course, the concern would

be that if the house does not act on the senate bill, that these things go to the house committees and that becomes like a slow motion death sentence where these things get nibbled away at. so that's the biggest fear. but, of course, step number one let's get these bills out of the senate. >> bill: it's interesting now that -- it seems to me, i remember when legislation would pass the house go over to the senate and get bogged down and we wouldn't see it again. now it seems to be the opposite. there is stuff getting out of the senate. the question is and let's go to the question of universal background checks or gun safety. it looks again bipartisanship on that front as well with joe manchin and pat toomey. now, that -- at least there will be a debate on the floor of the senate. first of all, your reading on chances in the senate and then again your reading on chances in the house. >> well, the universal background check is a no-brainer piece of legislation. it shouldn't be as difficult as

it has been. thank goodness the families from newtown, connecticut, were in the senate. >> bill: made a difference, didn't it? >> made a difference. >> we need to sustain that pressure. it should not be the case that this -- that we should require this constant pressure but it looks like that will be required in order to get it done. it is going to be close but i think there will certainly be over 50 votes i think in the senate. i really -- if they can't get 60 votes which i think they can but not sure, it would be awful at the end of the day if they were to filibuster this legislation. in the senate. that would be such an insult to the american people, not to have a vote in the light of day. look, i hope they will -- i think at the end of the day we will pass the gun safety legislation out of the senate. of course, the question is speaker boehner should take it up and just give the american people a vote.

you know? folks who want to vote no, vote no and go home and explain why you don't want to have background checks to prevent criminals from buying guns and people who have been found by court of law to be mentally unstable to the point they pose a risk. go home and explain that to your constituents but at least have a vote. >> bill: absolutely. and again that question about the speaker deciding, one man deciding whether or not, you know, we'll even allow a vote on this issue. >> it is interesting, you raise the point speaker boehner who constantly is, you know, criticizing the senate, is now sort of saying to the senate, hey, these guys gotta go first on gun safety issues. you gotta go first on immigration reform. interesting on the budget issue having lectured the american people in the congress for four years about the importance of regular order in terms of passing the budget, we now have a house budget. we have a senate budget and we want to go to conference and

guess who's dragging their feet right now on going to conference on the budget. house republicans. so we're calling i hope you will too, every day, on the house leadership to appoint conferees to the budget conference so we can get moving on this. >> bill: tell us more about that when we come back and how the american people can get their voices heard on that very point here on the "full court press" with congressman chris van hollen. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

this show is about being up to date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show."

now on current tv. >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour here on the "full court press" this tuesday morning. april 16. congressman chris van hollen, ranking democrat on the house budget committee here in studio with us. we've been talking boston. talking immigration reform and gun safety legislation. want to get into -- the budget didn't get lost by the way. we didn't resolve all of the problems with the budget. we'll get into that with the congressman. first, peter? >> quick update. we talked about how much -- how fast information travels and how fast this situation happened. yesterday, everybody was watching twitter to get the latest updates which is a dangerous thing sometimes. you go to respected verified accounts to get the best information. so a lot of people were concerned that the boston fire department wasn't sending out updates for people of boston. the boston fire department a couple of hours ago sent out a series of tweets that said we wanted to send a message about not posting a single tweet from yesterday's bombing incident. we were on the scene but as our

policy, did not knowingly show any injured person or treatment of them. in addition, we had to quickly leith scene to establish a media center at a nearby hotel for press briefings. they were very much hands on they just didn't stop to tweet about it on twitter. >> bill: i don't have a problem with the fire department or police department is responding to an emergency and they're not tweeting. >> i don't have any problem with that. >> bill: i think we can give them a pass on that, don't you? >> focus on saving people. >> bill: yeah. twitter is not the most important thing in the world. some people think it is. so congressman let's come back to the budget mess. sort of -- you know, what kicked the can down the road until august or so. right? that's the next fiscal crisis, is it? >> that's right. in the meantime, we don't have a budget. how do we get there? >> so, a couple of things. first of all because the house

has passed a budget and the senate has passed a budget, the normal course now is to go to conference. that's what we call the regular order. >> bill: yes. and interestinglily, house democrats and senate democrats are now calling for the appointment of conferees, people who will go which is what you normally do and right now house republicans, the speaker dragging their feet in terms of -- in terms of appointing conferees. >> bill: why? >> that's a question we have for everybody. the whole purpose of a conference committee is to bridge the differences. the only explanation i can think of right now is that if you go to a conference committee and the public gets a good chance to see, the differences between the democratic budget put together in the senate like our house democratic budget. and the republican budget. that they will see that the house democratic budget focuses on jobs. whereas the republican budget

will actually slow down job growth. that's according to the nonpartisan congressional budget office. and that we take a balanced and responsible approach to long-term deficit reduction whereas the republican bill asks everybody to sacrifice except those at the very top and the highest incomers would get another big tax break. >> bill: any way the public can get involved in this? our listeners, our viewers? what do you do? just flood boehner's office? >> they should be calling the speaker's office and say let's do what you have said you wanted to do for the last four years. and follow the regular order and appoint conferees to a budget conference committee to resolve these differences. >> bill: and the speaker can do that. there would be democrats and republicans on it. >> that's right. the speaker gets to appoint the republican conferees from the house and then, of course, the democratic leader appoints the democratic conferees same process goes forward in the senate. >> bill: the problem is, isn't

it they really want it one way meaning all spending cuts, no revenue whatsoever. >> that's right. the interesting thing -- >> bill: not even closing tax loopholes. >> that's right. >> we've seen what has happened in europe with our european partners who have pursued an austerity only approach. it has slowed down their economies. if you look at the u.k. right now, their economy was really put in reverse. and so interesting thing is republicans here in the united states are pursuing a european style austerity program because their budget would keep in place the sequester cuts. the very deep sequester cuts. and when it comes to reducing the deficit as you've said, they refuse to close one single tax loophole for the purpose of deficit reduction. they acknowledge that there are all sorts of tax breaks out there in the tax code. they just don't want to close a single one of them in order to

reduce the deficit. they will only close those loopholes if it means reducing the tax rate on high income individuals. >> bill: so peter let's post on our web site a link, maybe the phone number for the speaker's office so people can get in and suggest do the right thing. we're not calling for anything special. just regular order. >> regular order on the budget. >> bill: conference, members of the conference committee the senate and house can get together and maybe we can resolve this budget issue. congressman, with that, we'll let you get back to work. >> good to be with you. >> bill: thank you so much for coming in. i appreciate your time very much leadership on so many issues. congressman chris van hollen. i'll be back with a quick parting shot for today. >> announcer: this is the bill press show.

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>> announcer: the parting shot with bill press, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. oh no, the horrific scene at the boston marathon is a grim reminder of the post-september 11th world we live in and the world that much of the rest of the world experiences every day. in some ways, you couldn't imagine a less likely scene for a terrorist attack. on the other hand, it is most likely scene because it is where we least expect it and that's where the cowardly terrorists like to -- that's the opportunity that they're look for. it is going to be a long time before we know who's responsible. one thing we do know, this is the kind of tightened security that we're going to have to learn to live with and yesterday, we were reminded again why. our thoughts and prayers are

with them. let's get to the bottom of this and find out who did it and hold them responsible. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."